AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

PM’s offence minister: Dutton is dangerous

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 27-Aug-24

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has defended his economic record in a speech to the Labor-aligned John Curtin Research Centre in Melbourne. Chalmers also used the speech to outline Labor’s plans to create a new ‘fourth economy’ over coming decades, which will be driven by energy, technology, demography, industry and geography; he noted that the nation’s three previous ‘economies’ have occurred roughly 40 years apart. Chalmers also used his speech to criticise Opposition leader Peter Dutton, describing him as the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, JOHN CURTIN RESEARCH CENTRE

Roy Morgan Poll: Coalition (50.5%) marginally ahead of the ALP (49.5%), but too close to call

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Aug-24

If a Federal Election were held now the result would be ‘too close to call’, with the Coalition on 50.5% (up 1%) just ahead of the ALP on 49.5% (down 1%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. This a reverse of last week’s results but nevertheless the ALP or Coalition would require the support of minor parties and independents to form a minority government. The result once again highlights the importance of preference flows to determine the overall two-party preferred result. The Coalition primary vote increased by 1% to 39.5% while ALP primary support was down 1% to 29.5%. Support for the Greens was down 0.5% to 13% and support for One Nation was unchanged at 4%. Support for Other Parties was unchanged at 5% and support for Independents was up 0.5% to 9%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Labor denies Setka’s claim of secret deal

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: 6 : 27-Aug-24

Former Construction, Forestry & Maritime Employees Union official John Setka told Seven’s Spotlighht program on Sunday that he had been given the impression that the CFMEU would be "left alone" if he quit. However, the suggestion that the federal government had agreed to let Setka stand down in return for not placing the CFMEU into administration has been rejected by the federal government, with workplace relations minister Murray Watt saying that claims by Setka that Labor double-crossed him over the issue were "absolutely fanciful".

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Business split over right to disconnect law

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Original article by Matt Bell, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 17 : 27-Aug-24

Unions have welcomed the federal government’s ‘right to disconnect’ reforms, describing them as a "cost-of-living win" for workers. However, shadow finance minister Jane Hume says the right to disconnect laws are "completely unworkable"; she contends that employers have been discussing this issue with their staff for many years, so legislation is not necessary. NIB Holdings CEO Mark Fitzgibbon is amongst the business leaders who have also questioned whether the right to disconnect laws are needed. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank CEO Marnie Baker in turn says workers should be able to choose whether to disconnect from their employer outside of working hours.

CORPORATES
NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

Docked pay, red cards for badly behaved politicians

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Original article by Olivia Ireland
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 21-Aug-24

The federal government will belatedly introduce a bill on Wednesday to establish an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. The proposed commission was one of the key recommendations of a landmark 2021 report by former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins, and it was originally intended to be operation by the end of 2023. It will have the power to investigate allegations of breaches of parliamentary standards by MPs, senators and their staffers. Amongst other things, politicians could be be suspended from parliament or be fined up to five per cent of their base salary for any breaches of the standards.

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Jakarta pact of strategic trust

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Aug-24

The federal government has finalised a new defence agreement with its Indonesian counterpart during an official visit by president-elect Prabowo Subianto. Amongst other things, the two nations will hold more joint military exercises and increase maritime security co-operation, as part of a push to counter Chinese’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Prabowo, who is currently Indonesia’s Defence Minister, says he wants to strengthen the nation’s ties with its neighbours. Defence Minister Richard Marles will formally sign the agreement in Indonesia next week.

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INDONESIA. MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

CFMEU courts war on Labor

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-Aug-24

The CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith says federal government legislation to appoint an administrator to its state construction divisions is "dangerous" and undermines the democratic functioning of unions. He adds that the CFMEU is considering its options but has yet to decide whether to pursue a legal challenge. However, sources have indicated that the union is considering a High Court ­challenge on constitutional grounds. The United Firefighters Union’s Victorian secretary Peter Marshall says all unions should challenge the legislation in the High Court, and warns that other unions could potentially be targeted in the future. The Electrical Trades Union’ state secretary Troy Gray contends that Labor has betrayed the union movement.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Roy Morgan Poll: ALP (50.5%) marginally ahead of Coalition (49.5%), but too close to call

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-24

If a Federal Election were held now the result would be ‘too close to call’, with the ALP on 50.5% (up 0.5%) just ahead of the Coalition on 49.5% (down 0.5%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. The ALP or Coalition would require the support of minor parties and independents to form a minority government. The result once again highlights the importance of preference flows to determine the overall two-party preferred result. The Coalition primary vote increased by 0.5% to 38.5% while ALP primary support was up 1% to 30.5%. Support for the Greens was down 0.5% to 13.5% and support for One Nation was down 1% to 4%. Smaller parties and independents lost support this week. Support for Other Parties increased 1% to 5% and support for Independents was down 1% to 8.5%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

GovERP IT flop the latest in $2.2b lost on projects

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 20-Aug-24

The federal government has cancelled the cloud-based GovERP project that had been commissioned by its Coalition predecessor. Nearly $341m has been spent on the all-of-government enterprise resource planning project since 2019, and an expert panel has concluded that the GovERP platform cannot be "repurposed" for use by government agencies such as Services Australia. The government has now cancelled about $2.2bn worth of IT projects that were initiated by the Coalition, including a business registry project for the Treasury that was set to be delivered five years and at a major cost blowout.

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AUSTRALIA. SERVICES AUSTRALIA

CFMEU headed for administration after Labor-Coalition agreement

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 20-Aug-24

Legislation to appoint administrators to the CFMEU’s state construction divisions was passed by the Senate on Monday, after the federal government agreed to several concessions sought by the Coalition. Amongst other things, the government accepted the Coalition’s push for a minimum administration period of three years and a maximum of five years, and for administrator Mark Irving to provide federal parliament with a progress report every six months. Irving has agreed that the CFMEU will not make any political donations or engage in "party politics" during the period of administration. Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has described the legislation as the strongest action a government has taken against a union in Australia’s history. The bill will be put before the lower house later this week.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS